Recollections

1.

Phil Wilson

Aberdeen, Scotland

Bus No 665

Thank you to Phil Wilson for sending me a link to another photograph of bus No 655.  The photo was taken in Princes Street by Paul Bateson

Acknowledgement:  Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Scotland

Recollections

2.

Eric Gold

East London

Route 1

Thank you to Eric Gold, East London, for sending his memories of Route 1.

Eric wrote:

"I used to catch the bus on route 1 to school, straight down Easter Road.  They had single deckers on that route as well.

I remember we got stuck in the snow in Abbey Mount, outside the old Regent cinema, in 1962, a very nasty winter."

Recollections

3.

Steven Oliver

Duns, Borders, Scotland

Route 1

Steven Oliver, Duns, Borders, Scotland sent this reply to Eric Gold's comments about the buses on Route 1:

Single Decker Buses

"Route 1 was, from its inception in 1919 until 1966, single-decked due to the low railway bridges at Abbeymount, at the foot of Easter Road, and at Crewe Toll.  Work on these bridges allowed the route to be converted to double-deck bus operation in summer 1966.  The lowered roadway at the Abbeymount railway bridge is a reminder of this."

Leyland Tiger Cubs

"It’s likely that Eric would have been travelling on one of the Leyland Tiger Cub/Weymann buses which were synonymous with the route in the early sixties.  There were 100 of these buses, in two batches of 50: 1-50 (SWS 1-50), new in 1959, and 51-100 (VSC 51-100) which were new in 1960/1.  It was not uncommon for these buses to get stuck on the route, due to their lightweight construction.

Accidents

"Two of the first batch of Tiger Cubs were written off in accidents during 1963.  No.9 met its end after running into the front of a chemists’ shop in Leith, while no.22 crashed through the railings one winter’s morning, at Regent Road near to Jacob’s Ladder, and rolled down an embankment before coming to rest against a wall. 

The bus was actually off-service at the time, returning to the depot and should not have been running that way.  Not surprisingly, its driver was fired.  The front end of no.22 lived on after the accident, as a static exhibit in the old Waverley Market."

Leyland Tiger Cubs Preserved

"When the 1 was double-decked in 1966, the 48 remaining Tiger Cubs from the first batch were sold to the Northern Ireland Transport Board for further service.  The second batch lived on into the early years of the Lothian Region Transport era, with the last of these buses bring withdrawn in 1978.

One of the first batch, No.13, is still around as a shell somewhere in Northern Ireland.  No.86 from the second batch is preserved.  Another bus from that batch, no.80, was also preserved, but it was sadly destroyed by fire in 2007, just as its lengthy restoration was nearing completion."

 Bus No.101

    ©

"As a footnote, the famous three-door single-decker bus, No.101, also appeared on Route 1, but its length meant that it could only be used on the outer (clockwise) circle.

A popular story is that no.101 also had another bus tailing it whenever it ran in service, in case it broke down.  This is only partly true, as it did indeed have another bus tailing it, but this was to accommodate the smokers, as smoking was banned on no.101 itself." ***

Steven Oliver, Duns, Borders, Scotland:  March 18, 2008

***  See also Recollections 5 below

Recollections

4.

Andrew Shortel

Muirhouse, Edinburgh

The Last Clippie

Andrew Shortel, Muirhouse, Edinburgh, who drove No 659, LRT's last Leyland Atlantean to operate in service, on January 3, 2000 wrote:

 No 659

   ©

"I used to live 8 doors along from Annie Boyle.  She was the last last conductress on LRT's buses.  Her last service was on bus 665 in 1980."

 No 659

   ©

Andrew Shortel, Muirhouse, Edinburgh:  April 16, 2008

Recollections

5.

Steven Oliver

Duns, Borders, Scotland

Thank you to Steven Oliver for passing on the comments that he received from Brian Melrose, in response to Steven's comments at the end of 'Recollections 3' above.

Brian wrote:

 Bus No.101

    ©

"The double decker following 101 was, of course, the service bus.  No 101 was the duplicate and ran to a duplicate timetable ie 2 mins in front of the service bus

Most demonstrators at the time ran as a duplicate so that if anything went wrong the timetable / service would not be affected.

Because of the experimental nature of 101, trying to keep it to a normal timetable would be risky.  As the service bus at the back was a double decker, smokers could stand back and use it instead.

The prime reason was therefore to cover breakdowns / in- service defects.  One should remember that No 101 had a carrying capacity of a double decker."

Brian Melrose

So there you have it!

Steven Oliver, Duns, Melrose:  June 25, 2010

 Recollections

6.

Eddie Williamson

Pickering, Ontario, Canada

Thank you to Eddie Williamson for posting a message in the EdinPhoto guest book.  Eddie wrote:

Bus No 101

"Looking at the picture of bus no 101 brought back memories to me.

    ©

I drove it a few times, but don't remember being followed by another bus.  It might have been my lead foot!."

Robert (Eddie) Williamson, Pickering, Ontario, Canada:
 Message posted in EdinPhoto guest book:  June 28, 2010